Russian ship detaches from space station

A Russian cargo craft detached from the International Space Station Saturday for a month-long independent voyage.

By Space Travel Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published December 21, 2007

A Russian cargo craft detached from the International Space Station Saturday for a month-long independent voyage.

The Progress M-61, which is at the end of its service life, is to be used as a platform for experiments until the middle of next month when its orbit will begin to disintegrate and it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.

The same was done previously with the Progress M-60. Automated Progress spacecrafts deliver food and water to the station's crew, fuel to maintain the station's orbit and other cargo and research equipment.

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The Space Travel Editorial Team produces content across our two editorial pillars: space industry news and Mind & Meaning. We cover launches, missions, satellites, defense, and the technology of getting humans to space, alongside the psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Space Travel takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.